Inspiring Your Outdoor Adventures
The joy of assessing young people doing the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions is the excuse to be out in the hills myself. So last weekend I spent a few days around Borrowdale and Easedale as they headed off on their expeditions. Thankfully the weather was pretty good.
I met the at Walla crag first walking in from Ashness Bridge. I had to wait a while but great views over Derwent and Keswick so who cares?!
The joy of assessing a Duke of Edinburgh group out in the Lake District is the chance to get out on the fells and meet them in remote locations. The Scout group I was assessing this week had their first camp up at Dale Head Tarn so I used that as a good excuse to bag Robinson, a fell top I’d not yet been up.
Heading out from Little Town in the Newland Valley I headed up towards High Snab Bank and onto Robinson. It was a scorching hot day and laden with 3 litres of water for the group I was feeling knackered before I’d even got near the top!
I have to admit to being a bit excited about the prospect of finally finishing the Pennine Way over a final week of walking after having started this route 8 years ago. So taking a week off work and roping in my parents as willing sherpas I headed out on the fells.
Heading out I had a skip in my step, eager to get on the fells. I did however have a minor hangover from a great night in the Stag Inn, the fantastic pub in the village (which does excellent meals). Despite being in sunshine in Dufton I could already see that Great Dun Fell and Cross Fell were shroud in mist.
Having made a last minute decision to spend bank holiday in Wasdale with a friend, we headed off for the Wasdale Round, walking clockwise round from Yewbarrow right around to Great Gable.
Ascending Yewbarrow is a steep start to a walk but gets you high up quickly.
Today’s been a great day of walking, even if I’m definitely sunburnt. I seem to have walked myself through the stressed that have been getting me down over the last few weeks and through sweat and over exertion I have found myself again. Happy and content as a solo walker. And back on the Nantlle’s!
Ok, I should have been in Scotland this weekend but life has a way of screwing stuff up and I find myself in Llanberis instead. There’s worse places I could be right now and the sun is shining!
I can’t recall a day I’ve been in Wales in the last few years when I’ve had such glorious sunshine as today.
I’ll be honest, I chose this walk on the assumption that it would be away from the Easter crowds that will descend on Snowdon and the Glyders. However, I hadn’t realised quite how stunning and thus popular the Aber Falls would be. Having also had a near miss on the A55 (my fault – sorry to the car in front who must have winced) I thought I should perhaps stay away from anything too rocky, since I was clearly feeling a bit distracted.
I love Scottish winters, endless white snow, ice and summits. What more do you need? 
I must start by saying, my beloved bike might be the second oldest possession I have, but it hasn’t really been out for the last 15 years (if you don’t count cycling at Kielder 3 years ago). But, this weekend I decided to make friends with my bike and headed off, with Dewsbury as my goal.
Ok, Dewsbury is not a glamorous destination I’ll admit. But I knew that from the Colne Valley to the west of Huddersfield, it was possible to cycle there via the canal towpaths and the Calder Valley Greenway and so should keep me away from two barriers to me cycling – traffic and hills. And should you decide to follow this route too and perhaps doubt how far you might get – fear not. You are also following the train line so you can always catch it back, which was my initial plan (and which I wished I’d taken as I got within 1 mile of home and my legs started to seize up).
Continue reading “Cycling Huddersfield Canal and the Calder Valley Greenway – and back!”Making the most of the gorgeous sunshine on Saturday we headed off to Barbury Castle for a circular walk along the Ridgeway National Trail.
I’ll have to admit that, as a northern lass who lives within spitting distance of the Peak District and the Pennine Way, the Ridgeway wasn’t exactly awe inspiring. But, having woken that morning in the busy and built up Reading, it was certainly lovely to escape to the countryside. Even if you could see Swindon and the M4 from the top of the hill. (And yes, I concede it was a hill, even by northern standards I was going to let Barbury Castle be on a hill).
We had a quick potter around the castle, which is really an Iron Age hillfort, before heading off eastwards along the Ridgeway.
Kilimanjaro has been on my bucket list for a very long time, but I never expected that somewhere between climbing Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro I would have a life transforming experience that over the six day trek would change my outlook on life forever.
I really wanted to see Kilimanjaro at its least crowded. Given thousands of people climb it every year this was unlikely to happen, but the Rongai route seemed like the sensible choice as it comes from the North and avoids the main route of Marangu on the way up, which is used by large groups climbing the mountain for charity. All routes use this path to descend so that everyone gets to the national park gate. So on the way down I had chance to walk the incredibly busy route making us glad for my route choice.
Day 1 heading up to Simba camp, day 2 to Kikelewa Cave, day 3 to Mawenzi tarn hut and day 4 to Kibo before heading for the summit. This route allows for 2 days descent down the Marangu path to the main gate.
Continue reading “Conquering Kilimanjaro from the North”